The White Goat and his Country 



there was plenty of wood, and on the ground 

 only such siftings of snow as could be swept 

 clean for the tent. The saddles were piled 

 handily under a tree, a good fireplace was 

 dug, we had a comfortable supper; and 

 nothing remained but that the goats should 

 be where they ought to be on the ridges 

 above the park. 



I have slept more soundly; doubt and hope 

 kept my thoughts active. Yet even so, it was 

 pleasant to wake in the quiet and hear the 

 bell on our horse, Duster, occasionally tankle 

 somewhere on the hill. My watch I had for- 

 gotten to place at T 's disposal, so he was 



reduced to getting the time of day from the 

 stars. He consulted the Great Bear, and see- 

 ing this constellation at an angle he judged 

 to indicate five o'clock, he came back into the 

 tent, and I heard him wake the cook, who 

 crawled out of his blankets. 



"Why, it 's plumb night," the cook whined. 



"Make the breakfast," said T . 



I opened my eyes, and shut them imme- 

 diately in despair at the darkness that I saw. 

 Presently I heard the fire and the pans, and 

 knew that the inevitable had come. So I got 



37 



